The Wisdom Wall

“one big reason why so many people in this country are forced to do stuff which is strictly not per the law or the regulatory framework is because those laws and, ah, regulations are so onerous that to do business in India, you almost have to beat them.”

“the really underappreciated part of the demographic advantage America had. That because, partly because of immigration, America's population growth rate was much faster than Europe and Japan. So if you adjusted for per capita income, yes, the gap is there, but it's not as pronounced. But the moment you sort of, ah, in…”

“every time a policymaker introduces a new regulation, remember that regulation by definition tends to be pro-incumbent. Whoever the person in power or the company which is already established, regulation, 90% of the time favors those people. So I think that is the very fundamental principle that has to be behind…”

“That was a big, in fact, Philip for gold and for, and for Bitcoin and stuff. The moment America sanctioned Russia, ah, back in, ah, the spring of twenty-twenty-two.”

“And then I learned that this, this advice giving business It's just counterproductive, and doing, giving frank exchange, and all that, just doesn't work. And how, it also taught me about how leaders transform over time. That when he first came to power, he seemed receptive. He needed the money. The country was in…”

“their subscription revenue drives their revenue model. It's not, ah, it's not advertising so much anymore. It's there, but subscription is the overwhelming driver. Now you would imagine that in a subscription driven model, it should be much more, ah, free press. And much more democratic in that way. And yet, Because…”

“the way the sanctions were imposed on, on Russia at the time of the Ukrainian war, where the assets were seized. And Russia was thrown off the dollar grid completely. I think that was a big wake up call for governments around the world that, Listen, this, if, if this can happen to Russia, it can happen to us”

“there is no country in the world which has grown rapidly without rapid population growth. No country.”

“In emerging markets, uh, I've always believed that getting the country right is very important. Country. And then at the end of the day, Like you have to buy the best quality companies in that country, but if you get the country wrong, then if, if you're investing in Argentina and Argentina in the basket case, good…”

“India gave its people lots of political freedom. That you can vote, and the way you want, and you have democracy. These countries did not give their people much political freedom, but they gave their people much more economic freedom compared to India.”

“the government should not be bailing out private sector companies, and should sort of, you know, keep, because I think that that creates an impression that the government is favoring the incumbent. Because, because after all, if companies are failing, it's, it's, you know, in terms of the fact that they tend to be…”

“because China doesn't have, it's still at the end of the day controlled by a communist party. And they don't have capital account convertibility. Therefore the trust in the Chinese currency is still very low.”

“We're in a world, at least Trump's world is a very transactional world. And this is what I said even when he, like when he got elected. So let's not think that there's something major strategic going on here. This is a transactional world. If tomorrow something happens where he sees it advantageous to get back with…”

“And until you get an economic crisis, no one cuts government spending anywhere in the world.”

“foreign investors are much happier piggybacking on some local person who knows how to navigate the system, rather than come greenfield and set something up.”

“I think that I still believe in, maybe this is a slightly old school of journalism, that your writing needs to be unpredictable.”

“Like the, like for me, when someone asks me, what's your definition of happiness? I think for me, the definition of happiness is having complete autonomy.”

“capital convertibility has always led, in general, on balance, at least initially, to more capital flowing in than flowing out because it's a statement of confidence in your economy.”

“Ajit Jain, uh, from Berkshire Hathaway, that no matter what your net worth is, you always want to be two X. Everyone thinks everyone across the income curve, unless you're Bill Gates, who apparently said that for me, everything is free. So that's different, right? But for most people across the spectrum, I've noticed,…”

“the biggest frustration for most people happens is that what they say the time horizon and how they experience the time horizon is very different. People will tell you, yeah, we're looking at a retirement, we're looking at, you know, the next 20, 30 years, what happens and stuff, and yet they're looking at the…”